Brianna Hickory just finished her junior year at Clace Senior High School. She'd had a great end of the year, with a hot, football playing boyfriend and a great group of friends who supported her no matter what, but Brianna was ready to start her summer vacation. In a few weeks, she'd be laying on the beaches of Cancun for a month and a half. She'd be far away from the loads of drama that always stirred up in her town. For a month and a half, it would be nothing but pure paradise. And pure paradise is what Brianna will get when she meets a boy and adapts a summer fling, forgetting about her tall, dark and muscular boyfriend back home. After summer is over, she goes back to school to start her senior year, forgetting all memories of summer fling boy. But what happens when she sees summer fling boy walking down the halls of her school? Could it be real, or was she seeing things? It's true - summer fling boy attends Clace Senior High School.

I was sitting underneath a palm tree in Cancun. I had spent a month and a half in paradise and wasn't ready to fly back to reality tomorrow. The scenery and feeling in Cancun was amazing; the ocean was the bluest of all blues and the sand was so soft. It looked like a scene that could be on a postcard, unlike my hometown back in Michigan. I had to savor every moment I spent here, because who knew when I'd get another opportunity like this.

The scenery wasn't the only thing that made me love Cancun. As I was staring out at sea, I felt someone sit next to me and kiss my cheek. I looked over at Nate and smiled. I met Nate as soon as I landed on this island. I was checking into the hotel with my family when I saw Nate climbing the stairs. He was very attractive at 5'8'' with his blonde, slightly curly hair and deep blue eyes. I couldn't help but smile at him, and was very surprised when he smiled back. He was so focused on smiling at me, that he misjudged the staircase and tripped, sending him tumbling down the stairs. I tried to stifle my laugh, but couldn't help it. He got up, swiftly, and acted like nothing had happened. I knew since then it was going to be something special.

"I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow, Bri," he said. Ever since that incident, Nate and I spent almost everyday together. We took hikes in the mountains, took late night walks on the beach, went out to dinner, and kissed under the moonlight.

"I wish I could stay here forever," I said.

"With me?" Nate said, smiling. He had an amazing smile that made me melt.

"Of course with you," I said, and kissed him. Being with Nate made me feel like I was in some sort of fairy tale; it all seemed too good to be true.

"Brianna Leigh, you need to start packing your things... now." I broke away from Nate to see my dad walking towards us. I hated the fact that whenever my parents said my name, they had to use both my first and middle name. Why couldn't they simply call me Brianna? I blushed.

"Right, dad. I'll be right there," I said, and he walked back towards the hotel. I started to get up. Nate grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go.

"Meet me back here tonight. I need to see you one last time before you leave." I bent down and kissed him again.

"Of course," I said, letting go of his hand and starting towards the hotel. A month and a half had gone by so fast. It was unbelievable. For the first time ever, I was content with not having my cell phone by my side 24/7. In fact, while I was here, I barely checked it. It was mostly off all the time. Once in a while, I'd text my best friends to let them know I was still alive and see what catastrophes were going on back home. I hated Michigan. Compared to Cancun, Michigan was so dark and gloomy, and there was never anything to do. I couldn't wait until I graduated high school, and then I could get out of Michigan for good.

I walked through the doors of the hotel and started up the stairs to our floor. We were only on the third floor, so I didn't mind taking the stairs - it was good exercise and I was terrified of elevators. I reached the third floor and walked to our room. I opened the door and was approached by my 13-year old annoyance of a brother, who I hadn't seen much on this trip, thankfully.

"Just to let you know, Jason has been calling my cell phone nonstop. He's been trying to reach you and your cell is off. So do me a favor and talk to him before I report harassment," Troy said, and walked into his room. I rolled my eyes and walked to the balcony our room had that overlooked the beach. Whenever I wasn't with Nate, I spent most of my time here. It was a place where I could be alone and think. I leaned on the railing and sighed. I don't understand how anyone could ever want to leave a place like this. I looked over to the spot where Nate and I were to see he wasn't there anymore, and for the first time all vacation, I had no clue where he was.

Just then I heard a knock on the glass door behind me. I turned around and saw Troy standing there, holding my cell phone. I groaned, opened the door, took the phone from him, then slammed the door. I hadn't really talked to my 5-month long boyfriend since I was here. It's not that I didn't want to, I was just preoccupied with... other things. I turned on my phone for the first time in a week to see a bunch of text messages popping up on the screen. Most of them were from the same people; Madison, Annette, Riley and Jason. I decided to put Jason out of his misery and call him. It rang about five times, then finally went to his voicemail. Somehow Jason and I were always playing phone tag. It was very rare that we both had our cell phones on us at the same time.

"Hey Jay, it's Bri. Um, I'm coming home tomorrow, so maybe I'll see you before school starts. I'm turning my phone off, so I'll talk to you when I get back to Michigan. Bye!" I hung up and sighed. I loved being with Jason, I really did, but then Nate came along and made me forget about Jason. I'm sure once I got back to Michigan things would be back to normal.

After I hung up the phone, I walked into my 20-year old sister's room, where she was on her bed reading a magazine and listening to her iPod.

"Janine, there's something I need to tell you," I said, sitting down next to her. She pressed pause on her iPod.

"Sorry, whatsup Bri?" She said.

"I said there's something I need to tell you," I repeated.

"Okay, shoot," she said, taking out her earphones. I talked to Janine about everything, so she knew about the Nate situation.

"Well, I'm meeting Nate tonight to say goodbye one last time..." I started saying.

"So you want me to cover for you while you're gone?" Janine finished my sentence.

"Please?" I begged.

"Of course I will. I've only been doing it all vacation," she retorted. It was true; my parents knew a little about Nate, like the fact I was talking to him, but they never knew I was out with him so much. They thought I was with a group of kids my age that took tours around the island all day.

"Thanks. I appreciate it!" I said, starting to get up and walk out of the room.

"Bri, you sure that's the only thing you had to tell me?" My sister knew me so well. I wasn't really sure what was going on with Jason, so I wouldn't know what to tell her.

"Positive," I said and walked out of the room.


I was getting ready to meet Nate. I put on a green and white flower-printed halter top I bought here and a silk white skirt, which was meant to be a bathing suit cover. I let my hair fall down my back in waves, which was something it never did. It must've been the Cancun air that made it so pretty because I could never get this style back in Michigan. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I saw the freckles that only appeared when I get some form of tan, which were my favorite thing about my appearance. If only Michigan had some great sun I could tan in.

I went over to Janine's room, gave her the signal, and left. My parents were engrossed in some special on TV in the back room that they didn't notice I slipped out the front door. I ran down the stairs and out the hotel. I looked around and embraced the warm, night air on my face. I walked to the spot where Nate and I had been today. There were hardly any lights in Cancun, besides the lights from the hotel, but other than that, all the light came from the moon and stars.

I sat down in the sand under the palm tree and looked out over the ocean. I'd seen it before, but I couldn't get over how beautiful the moon's reflection in the water was. It made me smile without realizing it. I looked around for Nate, but there was no sign of him. I was getting bored so I started playing with the sand.

Just then, I heard a guitar in the distance. It wasn't unusual to hear instruments around the island because there were always local parties going on, so I didn't think much of it. It stopped after a while, and I was growing impatient waiting for Nate. For the first time all vacation, I was starting to think of the possibility that he stood me up. I was really upset, so I got up from under the palm tree and started walking around. I walked more towards the edge of the beach and let the waves hit my feet. I folded my arms over my chest and looked out over the horizon.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I turned around and saw Nate standing there. He looked hotter in the nighttime with his Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt and khaki's. I smiled and walked towards him.

"Were you talking about the ocean, or me?" I smiled. I was used to his flirting and caught on quickly. He wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Both," he said, and slowly leaned down to kiss me. In all my seventeen years of life, Nate was, by far, the best kisser I've ever kissed. He just made me feel so warm and I knew he cared about me so much. After a while, we broke apart. We walked back to the tree and sat down. He put his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Brianna, tell me about Michigan," Nate said, randomly. He knew a lot about me, like the fact that I hated Michigan.

"What's there to tell? It's miserable," I said.

"You know what would make it better?" he said.

"What could possibly make Michigan better?" I asked.

"If I was there," Nate said. I smiled.

"It would definitely make Michigan a less boring place," I said. We sat there for what seemed like forever. I knew it was getting late and I would have to be gettinig back to the hotel soon before my parents realized I wasn't there.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot, and I want you to know that you're the most special girl I've ever met in my life. You make me feel, I don't know... but I love it when I'm with you," he said, looking at me.

"I feel the same way," I said, sitting up.

"So, that's why I got you this..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and handed it to me. I took it and and opened it gently. Inside was a beautiful silver ring with a gorgeous light blue stone in the middle and diamonds all around it. It was the most beautiful gift I've gotten from a guy. I didn't know what to do, but I felt tears forming in my eyes.

"Nate..." I didn't know what to say. I looked up at him.

"I got you this to remember what will probably be the best summer of our lives, and even though we won't be together, to promise to always remember each other," he explained.

"Nate, there is no way in the world I will ever forget about you," I said. We stayed under the tree for another hour. After saying the longest goodbye of my life, I walked back to my hotel room. I opened the door as slowly and quietly as I could and peered inside. Everything was dark, which meant everyone was sleeping. I crept in, closed the door quietly, and tip-toed to my room. I made it safely and jumped in my bed. I opened the box and looked at the ring again. I started to cry and realized I would probably never see Nate again. It was going to be hard because I've never felt this way about anyone, but as long as I had all his contact information, it would be like he never left.

We left the hotel at 4:30 in the morning, which sucked because I got back around 1, which meant I only had about 3 hours of sleep. I planned on sleeping on the plane, which was something I never did. I knew Nate wouldn't be up at this time, so I didn't bother to look for him. I was extremely jealous that he got to stay here for another week, but we had to leave earlier because Janine had to go back to college and Troy's football practices were starting.

We went through baggage and all that security, then finally got on the plane. I took a seat closest to the window, which is where I always sat. I looked at the ring on my finger. I promised myself I wouldn't take it off because I never wanted to forget about Nate. I was upset that I lived in Michigan and Nate lived in North Carolina because the chances of ever seeing him again were very slim. All I had left of him were memories. I planned on emailing him and calling him a lot once we both got settled at home.

Three hours later we were back on Michigan soil. Just as I suspected, it was raining, which made me feel gloomy. I tried to remember back to the Cancun atmosphere to escape this hell hole. A car picked us up from the airport and brought us back to Clace. We arrived at our house, got the luggage out of the trunk, and walked into our house. Immediately I ran upstairs to my room. I dropped my suitcase in front of my door and walked into my room. My room was my favorite place in the entire house. It had two levels - on the first level was my bed, a closet, dresser, and a big screen TV. Then there was a winding staircase leading to the second level, which consisted of a study area and a walk-in closet.

There was no way I was spoiled. My grandfather built this house all by himself for my father to live in when he started a family. My absolute favorite part of my room was the big arch window on the second floor. My room reminded me of a New York penthouse. I went up to the second level and turned on my computer. I was afraid to see how many messages I had gotten in my email and Facebook. As I waited for my computer to load, I went back down to the first level and turned my phone on. I had to tell my friends I was back. Madison was my absolute best friend. We've been friends since first grade, and she's the one I go to first when I have a problem. I tell her everything that goes on in my life and vise versa. I met Annette in sixth grade at lunch and Riley transferred to our town in seventh grade. I loved my group of friends.

I looked down at my phone and sent a text message to all three of them, alerting them I was home. I hesitated to text Jason, so I just didn't. I logged onto my email and as soon as my computer turned on. As usual, it was just a bunch of junk mail. No one really used email anymore. Sometimes I used it to send work to my teachers or get notifications about sporting events and clubs at my school. Then I logged onto Facebook to see I had 134 notifications, 13 friend requests, and a whole bunch of other things. I never realized how much could happen in a month and a half. I went to the friend requests first, since I loved getting those. I accepted everyone and then logged off.

I looked at my phone to see I had 4 text messages; two of them were from Madison, one from Annette and one from Riley.
From: Madison
Aug 15
I'm so happy you're home! Gosh, I have so much to tell you! And I'm sure you have lots to tell me!

From: Madison
Aug 15
Oh yeah, I'm on my way to your house right now so we can talk (:

From: Annette
Aug 15
Yay, finally! Welcome back to hell! Get ready for senior year baby!

From: Riley
Aug 15
Call me ASAP to catch up!
I looked out the window to see Madison pull up in her blue Volvo. I ran downstairs towards the front door. I opened it and she ran in screaming and hugging me.

"I've missed you so much!" she said, jumping up and down.

"Oh my god, I've missed you too!" I said. We walked up to my room.

"So... how was it!? You barely said anything to me while you were there!" She said.

"It was absolutely amazing! I've never seen anything more beautiful!" I explained.

"And you got tan, lucky!" She said, jealously.

"I know, right?! That hardly happens here," I said. All of a sudden, Madison looked down at my hand and gasped. She grabbed my hand and lifted it up to my face.

"WHAT IS THIS?! ARE YOU ENGAGED?!" She shrieked, referring to the ring. I tried to quiet her down so no one in my house would come see what was going on.

"Calm down! I promise I'll explain everything to you!" I told her the entire story about Nate from the beginning of the vacation when I met him, to last night on the beach.

"That. Is. So. CUTE! He sounds completely perfect for you!" Madison said.

"His name is Nate Frade, he's 17 and he lives in North Carolina," I gave her all his information. She was smiling, and then slowly the smile wiped off her face.

"Um, Brianna... you have a boyfriend... did you forget while you were there?" She said, concerned.

"No, I didn't forget, but Jason doesn't have to know. I mean, it was just a summer thing and I'm never going to see Nate again, so it's no big deal," I explained. Madison looked convinced.

"Alright, I'll take it," she said.

"Oh, that reminds me, I should probably put his number in my phone," I said, getting a little piece of paper from my bag.

"You're still going to talk to him?" Madison said.

"Of course! How could I not? He's really special to me," I explained, but I didn't expect her to understand. Just as I finished putting in Nate's number, I had an incoming call from Jason. I groaned.

"Jason's calling me," I told Madison and picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Bri, you're back!" He sounded a lot more excited to talk to me than I was to talk to him.

"Oh, yeah! I was going to call you, but I was just unpacking my things," I lied.

"Well, when can I see you?" He sounded very eager to see me.

"Uh, how about tomorrow night? We'll get something to eat," I suggested.

"That sounds great. Can't wait, bye!" He hung up. I looked over at Madison, who had a skeptical look on her face.

"Maybe when I see him, I'll fall in love with him all over again," I said, making it sound hopeful.

"Sure you will," Madison said.

The next day, I found myself sitting in Troffy's Pizzeria, waiting for Jason. Troffy's was definitely mine and Jason's place. We went on dates here before we were official, so I always thought of it as a special place. I looked down at the time on my cell phone. It was five after seven, which meant Jason was five minutes late. I didn't think much of it because I knew he was never on time for anything. He got so many detentions for being late to school, and was threatened multiple times to get kicked off the football team for being late to so many practices.

Finally I heard the bell on the door ring and looked up to see Jason walk in with his hot varsity football jacket and faded jeans. His hair was spiked up, which was definitely my favorite style of his. I couldn't help but smile every time I saw him.

"Hey, baby," he said as I stood up, wrapping his arms around me.

"I've missed you so much," I said. And it was true; being away from Jason for so long made me realize why I liked him so much.

"I'm sure I've missed you more," he said, finally planting a kiss on my lips. We sat down in the booth and ordered our pizza.

"So what was Cancun like?" He asked.

"A hell of a lot better than this place, for sure. Everything down there was just so... beautiful," I explained, referring to the scenery and trying so hard not to mention Nate.

"That's cause you were there," Jason said as the waiter put the pizza tray down on our table. We each grabbed a slice and started eating furiously. I was glad I was so comfortable eating around Jason because I was starving. Being comfortable around him was one of the many reasons why I liked him so much.

"So did you meet any new kids while you were down there?" Jason asked. I froze. Did he know? Who would've told him? I regained composure and got ride of my paranoia.

"Oh, not really. Just some kids around my age that were staying at my hotel. I didn't really talk to them much." Throughout my life, I felt I had become a professional liar. I had gotten so good at it that I was almost lying all the time, but only when I needed to. I'm not a psycho pathological liar.

"That's cool," he said, putting another slice on his plate.

"So how were things here while I was gone?" I asked. He tried to say something, realized he had too much food in his mouth, kept chewing, finally swallowing.

"So boring. I did nothing but football camp. It was torture," he explained. We finished the pie and walked out of Troffy's. It was only 8 at night, but it was already starting to get dark outside, and the feeling of the end of summer breezes felt so good. We took a seat on the benches outside Troffy's and Jason put his arm around me.

"A month and a half was a long time for you to be away from me. Please don't do it again," Jason said, squeezing my shoulder.

"I'll try not to, but I'm not making any promises," I laughed. My mom pulled into the parking lot and Jason and I got off the bench. We gave each other a peck on the lips, because really, who wants to kiss in front of their parents? I got into the car and left Jason getting into his car. I was probably one of the only kids in my grade going into senior year without a car. I had my license, but I had to earn my own money for a car, and that was not going to happen soon.


"The next day was exactly a week before we had to go back to school. It was the time to go shopping and buy a whole new wardrobe for a new year. That was my favorite part. That day, I went shopping with Madison and Riley. Annette was working and was trying to put in as many hours as she could before school started. We went to the local mall strip, which didn't have a name, but had all our favorite stores; Wet Seal, Forever 21, Charlotte Russe and Bebe. We walked into Forever 21, grabbed a handful of new clothes, and got three dressing rooms next to each other.

"Is anyone else super excited for senior year?!" Madison shrieked.

"Hopefully it's as great as they say," Riley stated. Madison and Riley were complete opposites. Madison was always hyper and peppy and bouncing around when she was excited. Riley was always calm, no matter the situation. I was a little bit of both, which was probably why I was such great friends with them.

"What do you guys think of this top?" I opened the door to my dressing room and walked out. It was a shiny, silk, blue top that was short-sleeved, and had a band at the bottom.

"So cute! Like a party shirt!" Madison said, with her cell phone in her hand.

"Mads, who have you been texting all day?" Riley demanded. Madison jumped.

"No one!" She said, and ran into her dressing room. Very suspicious, I thought. If Madison was keeping a secret, she would tell me in an instant. This wasn't like her. I decided to look past it. Maybe she was texting her mom or something, but it still wouldn't have mattered. We finished trying on clothes at Wet Seal, paid for our purchases, then went to the mini food court which consisted of a Subway, Sbarro's Pizza, Sole Mex, Salad Works, and other food shops. We each went to separate places, then met back at one table.

"Annette just text me. She says hi and she's sad she missed our shopping day," Riley informed us. Out of the four of us, Annette was the best with fashion and wasn't afraid to tell you if you looked ugly in something. Just then, Madison's phone beeped for the hundredth time since we've been out.

"Madison, you need to put the phone down. It's kind of getting annoying now," I said.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry! Okay, I'm stopping," she dropped her phone into her bag. I was still very curious to know who she was texting. As we finished eating, Riley's mom pulled up to the mall, signaling our shopping time was over. We jumped into her big SUV, and went home.

chapter 5 goes here when all goals are reached (: